A review of the evidence of meteorite-impact events in the sedimentary record of Spain reveals that the only proven impact-related bed is the clay layer at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (at Zumaya and Sopelana in the Bay of Biscay region, and at Caravaca, Agost, and Alamedilla in the Betic Cordilleras). Other deposits previously proposed as impact related can now be rejected, or are dubious and still debated. These include the Pelarda Formation, alleged to represent proximal ejecta from the Azuara structure; the Paleocene-Eocene boundary near Zumaya (western Pyrenees) and Alamedilla (Betic Cordillera); and the Arroyofrı´o Oolite Bed, which has been alleged as distal ejecta of an unknown Callovian-Oxfordian impact event. The scarcity of evidence for meteorite-impact events in the sedimentary record is possibly due to a lack of detailed studies. We propose several sedimentary units that could potentially be related to impact events, and where future research should focus.

This research is supported by the Spanish Center for Astrobiology (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas—Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial). The IMPACT program of the European Science Foundation financed the participation of Díaz-Martínez and Sanz-Rubio in Short Courses on Impact Stratigraphy and Impact Metamorphism (2000).

12 páginas, 4 figuras.

Peer reviewed